Saturday, June 10, 2006

The girls go home

They're home! The five girls in the photo are from Thanh Hoa province, about three hours drive from Hanoi. They've been sleeping on the streets of Hanoi - and I cannot stress what an extraordinarily dangerous thing that is to do, for any minor, and especially for girls.

But no more... Today, Blue Dragon's chief psychologist, Khanh, and our lawyer, Van, drove with them back to their families.

How do we know they can stay with their parents now? Won't they just come back again to earn more money?

Maybe they will. But we signed a contract with their parents, promising ongoing support in return for the girls staying with their families and going to school. The parents were so greatly relieved. They didn't want their daughters to leave home in the first place - but they were desperate, and some of the girls had previously been trafficked to Hanoi to work, so they knew how much money could be made.